8/25/09
Remember our long 4 hour walk searching for apartments? Mandy and I were specifically looking for one near the other staff members, with two bedrooms, already furnished, clean and yet within our budget. We noticed there aren’t many furnished apartments as well as pricy. Being in California, we have a mindset that Mexico’s housing is cheap. That is true, but it also depends where one will be staying at. Napoles – the district where the other staff members are at, is a business area near the World Trade Center and one of the major streets, Insurgentes. I would state that they are staying at the mid-upper class area and pay about $675 monthly with maintenance (they provided all the furniture) for two bedrooms, 1 ½ bathrooms, kitchen, nice size living and dining room. Our goal was to find one nearby, FURNISHED less than $600 for two bedrooms, 1 bathroom, clean, a nice size living and dining room, and not so close to the busy streets. We so enjoy our peace and quiet! That afternoon, we had one lead! It seemed great… except the price and the size. We thought maybe we could handle a one bedroom small apartment that cost as much as the other staff members’ apartments. Just then we hit a bump.
Alejandra Mendoza is also looking for an apartment. She is planning to move out when Sandra (her current roommate) moves out in the end of Sept. It was actually planned that I would be her roommate while Mandy would be with Erika and Jaime. Unfortunately, both Erika and Jaime did not raise enough support and so stopped all together in coming. I definitely did not mind having Mandy as my roommate for we were roomies last year! Mindy and Mandy were the best roommates I could have asked for last year! They were surely God’s provision for me!
The question is, would she be staying with us? How would that play out? Could we? Ale is a Mexican National. One huge thing to take in consideration is the culture differences. It creates challenges in the bonding of the two since values differ. For one, Americans LOVE space, Latin Americans tend to not mind if their space is invaded/shared, it’s just how it is. Americans value cleanliness. Latin Americans value people more. Americans value quietness. Latin Americans don’t seem to mind. This will change the dynamics of our apartment searching.
Luckily, she had ONE apartment in mind. The owner of the apartment she is currently staying in actually owns a three bedroom apartment nearby, practically on the same street. Mandy and I, honestly had our hearts settled with the one-bedroom apartment just across the street to the staff girl’s home, but we tried out this apartment. Just to check it out. This was on 8/24/09. About 15-20 minutes away from the staff apartments, in a 8 story apartment building, we entered.
To our surprise, it was super cute, very spacious, quiet, natural light, in a nice area AND within our budget. If that wasn’t enough, the owner was leaving to the US (California) the following morning and won’t be returning till the 25th of September. She needed a decision RAPIDO! She was not the type to guilt or rush our decision, she simply said that either answer would be fine. Since Ale wasn’t done with her contract yet with the other apartment, Mandy and I would just pay about $515 for this months rent not including the gas, electricity and water. After this month, when she arrives, we will give her an answer if we would all (including Ale) stay at this apartment each paying about $300 monthly (including maintenance, gas, water, and electricity). Sounded great! Mandy and I left there and talked it through and prayed about it. Our answer, YES!!
The next morning, set to wake up at 6:30am to meet with her at 7am before she left to the airport. I found myself up at 7:06am!!!! NOOOOOOO!!! Right away I called her and asked if I could still make it. She said yes. I didn’t know if Mandy had woken up or not, I just ran out!
Determined, I arrived at the apartment within 7 minutes in sandals! Crazy, yes! My hair was not taken care of and of course I didn’t take time to brush my teeth. Let’s just say I was not pretty!
Sweet, Aurora showed me around and taught me the nicks and crannies of her apt. Then she handed me the keys and left at 7:30am!
What a God thing! We weren’t even looking this way, nor were we looking for a 3 bedroom apartment. It was perfect!
That day we moved in! It is truly amazing how God has provided this home especially the time we needed one!
Sorry didn’t download pix at this time!
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